The BIM/AEI Team Thesis gave me a chance to show what I have learn through five years of college. What I liked most was getting to fully design a building structure in a team setting. The fact that we were competing with our classmates and other schools made the whole experience more fun and helped us push ourselves to come up with the best design possible.

I was happy with the way our team performed and I am proud of what we accomplished throughout the process. In the end I gained a lot of knowledge in aspects of my field that I had not previously learned and I learned how to operate in a team environment.

During this past school year, participating in the BIM/AEI Thesis has given me a new perspective on the building industry as a whole. It helped me to see how a team works with real-world constraints to solve building problems. It gave me the knowledge that I need to go forward into the industry, in order to be able to contribute with meaningful input on projects. BIM thesis also gave me the insight needed while working with the other disciplines to be able to integrate the building systems to help create a more efficient design. It also helped me to learn the value of compromise and the design process when designing building systems. One thing that I would change about the project would be to remove some of the constraints placed by the competition to be able to produce a more creative design, since the senior thesis is meant to showcase our abilities.

The interdisciplinary collaborative BIM Thesis program was an integral part of my educational experience at The Pennsylvania State University. I was able to apply the knowledge I had garnered from two other BIM-specific courses (BIM Studio and BIM Execution Planning) to our thesis team. In addition, the way in which BIM is integrated into the other construction management courses at Penn State allowed me to apply BIM to a plethora of construction applications – cost estimating, scheduling, project planning, site logistics, and delivery method analysis. Through the use of integrated design technologies – Google SketchUp and a Revit Central Model – my construction management partner, Brian LaChance, and I were able to translate information into Navisworks to create a 4D model. Working through design solutions with our engineering design teammates helped us comprehend and evaluate the various construction implications and impacts on cost and schedule.

Participating in the AEI National Competition brought a unique perspective to the BIM Thesis program as compared to prior years. We were given the framework of an elementary school project that tasked us with integrating our team’s various design disciplines into a construct able high-performance facility in an economically-disadvantaged urban setting. Within the boundaries of the competition, our team was able to work collaboratively and support one another’s goals and the team goals as a whole while ultimately fulfilling the owner’s goals of the project. Throughout this year-long process, the insight I gleaned into the iterative design and construction processes has helped reinforce the communication and integration skills I have learned throughout my years at Penn State – significantly benefitting me as a future construction manager.

Over the last year, I have gained useful experience and knowledge participating in the integrated BIM thesis. This project facilitated the integration of all building design disciplines. Throughout the process, I learned how to design within a team setting instead of the typical design hierarchy that has been common in the past. Working with a partner within my own discipline taught me the value of an outside opinion and compromise. Both ultimately lead to a better design. The same could be said for the project as a whole. With 7 team members from 4 of the building disciplines, integration, compromise, and unique design solutions was crucial to the completion of our project. The use of BIM allowed all team members to fully convey their ideas and needs and will hopefully cut down the number of discipline conflicts in the future.

The senior thesis capstone project was a critical part of my education as an architectural engineer. The course provided me the tools necessary to work in a collaborative environment with other designers to produce a high-performace building design solution. Moreover, the course gave me the opportunity to explore engineered systems and structural design techniques that may not have been covered in my other coursework.

Using an interactive, online approach to submitting project reports and deliverables proved to be an effective way to share information with the faculty and with my peers. Additionally, the design and maintenance of the CPEP website was a valuable experience to myself and my team members since we previously had little or no knowledge of web development.

The BIM/AEI Team Thesis was a unique experience. This project approach forced all the discipline members of Nexus to work hand in hand to produce a common project. The central idea that we all worked around was putting the team before the individual in order to produce the best possible result. In many cases this meant compromising and doing extra work to explore all potential options. The use of BIM helped to expedite the decision making process by allowing us to view design changes in 3D and fully comprehend the impacts of our decisions. This course opened my eyes to the possible uses of BIM as well as the impacts of a more collaborative approach in the construction industry.

Participating in the BIM/AEI Team Thesis Competition was a truly unique experience. Through the implementation of our own discipline specific designs and analyses, I feel that each team member learned a great deal about the other systems. The integration of structural, mechanical, lighting, and electrical system designs with constructability considerations allowed for a comprehensive learning experience that pushed each of us out of our comfort zone to achieve the desired results. Additionally through the use of 3D design technology we were able to clearly see the immediate impacts and ramifications of a specific discipline design decision. The integration of these softwares too, evoked an applied learning and understanding of the advanced design aspects of each discipline. Overall, I feel that the through the use of these integrated project delivery practices, I attained an immeasurable knowledge of what makes a building function as a whole; one that I can apply and will benefit me in my professional career.

The Capstone Project Electronic Portfolio (CPEP) is a web‐based project and information center. It contains material produced for a year‐long Senior Thesis class. Its purpose, in addition to providing central storage of individual assignments, is to foster communication and collaboration between student, faculty consultant, course instructors, and industry consultants. This website is dedicated to the research and analysis conducted via guidelines provided by the Department of Architectural Engineering. For an explanation of this capstone design course and its requirements click here.

Note: While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the
pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐inprogress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and
construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Nexus. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was
flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been
incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original
design.